Director says Lucerne senior center will survive

LUCERNE -- Robert Clifton, director of the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, said Friday that his nonprofit organization will stay open and continue serving lunches, despite losing its funding from the Area Agency on Aging (AAA), which determined the center was a "high-risk" nutrition provider to seniors.

"There was an incident, and yes, certain people said certain things, and certain actions will spring from it," Clifton said, referring to the Thursday hearing during which the AAA recommended to its governing board to terminate its contract with the Lucerne center.

"But if people really want to know what's going on, they should come in for meal?and if they don't like it, don't come back."

Defending the center against several "serious food safety issues" identified in a Feb. 5 inspection by a state official, Clifton said, "No one's ever died from our food. No one's ever gone to the hospital."

Apparently this isn't the type of evidence that impresses government agencies which require contractors who serve food to seniors to follow dietary guidelines established and maintained by a host of government agencies, including the U.S. Department Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"We're not going to appeal (the decision)," Clifton said. "It's moot. They decided what they were going to do before the meeting, which was just a formality.

"We're a nonprofit corporation and we'll stay open. We just won't be affiliated with the ?Meals-on-Wheels program that's funded by the government."'

About half of the funding for meals at the center came from the AAA for the Meals on Wheels program, according to Clifton, who said the center averages about 75 lunches a day.

Other funding comes from donations, fundraisers and a thrift shop on the premises.

Clifton, who's been the center's director for two years, said he's felt shackled by some of the restrictions that came with the government money. For instance, "Now that we're not restricted, we can open up (the lunches) to people under 60 years old."

He said the response he's gotten from his customers and supporters since the news of the contract cancelation by the AAA broke has been encouraging.

"I've had 14 people (contact him) today," he said. They want to know how they can help. This might turn into something wonderful."

Clifton said he's been criticized by officials for serving such entrees as chicken-fried steak and meatloaf, though he said he only serves the dishes twice a month, and besides, the diners love them.

"I've got 50 years in the restaurant business. I was a chef, and though I don't cook the meals here, I take pride in the food we serve, and so do the people who prepare it," he said.

The problem , according to Mike Parkinson, program coordinator for the AAA, isn't that people don't like his food. It's simply that it hasn't always met the requirements that contractors like Clifton agree to abide by?requirements designed with seniors in mind.

"Some food that would affect someone in their 30s and 40s, that might cause nausea or diarrhea, could put a senior in the hospital or kill him," Parkinson said.

According to Parkinson, who accompanied the state inspector on the Feb. 5 visit to the Lucerne senior center, red flags included food in the refrigerator whose expiration date had passed, and packages of food in the freezer and in dried storage that were without any dates on them. Clifton said the questionable food in the refrigerator belonged to a homeless volunteer.

"I'm not criticizing anyone," he said. "Not the AAA, not the county. But there was state person who came in and for whatever reasons, gave a report that was awful ? we couldn't do anything right.

"If you came in, sat down, ate a meal and talked to the people, they'll tell you the food quality has gone up considerably (since Clifton became the director two years ago)."

As far as labels with various dates on them, Clifton said that some of those dates don't necessarily mean the food shouldn't be eaten. Then he shared what he believes is the best way to tell if food is safe:

"You smell it, and if it smells OK, then you taste it, and if it tastes OK, you eat it."

Parkinson admitted that some of the issues over the years at the center, including some serious financial trouble, date back to the years before Clifton took over.

"I feel bad it came to this," said Parkinson, who said he's had the chicken-fried steak at the center, even noticing the way it was prepared?fried briefly then baked. "We've worked with them to correct the issues and kept the contract going despite some issues. But in this case, it was a state inspection."